Mclean Pulls Right Rein To Land Hurdle
The Age
Thursday May 3, 2007
HAVING multiple choices of mounts in a feature race is a dream situation for any jockey but it led to plenty of soul-searching for Brad McLean before he decided to ride Some Are Bent in yesterday's Galleywood Hurdle at Warrnambool.
McLean, 22, and Some Are Bent are both rising stars of the jumps world but his other offers in the race included Virvacity on whom he won the Galleywood last year."I ride him (Virvacity) most mornings but Robert Smerdon (trainer of Some Are Bent) has been a great supporter of mine," McLean said.Smerdon admitted he had to "apply the thumbscrews" to McLean about three weeks ago to make sure he rode Some Are Bent but McLean said as late as last Monday week, when he rode Virvacity in a Hurdle trial at Warrnambool, that he was still unsure he had made the right decision."Then I rode Some Are Bent in a later trial and my mind was made up," he said. McLean said he did not have second thoughts approaching the last jump yesterday when Some Are Bent was being challenged, first by Al Dietrich, another of his offers in the race, and then Virvacity who made the jump on terms with the favourite and then sprawled on landing.Some Are Bent ($2.20 favourite) came away to win easily by 33/4 lengths from Virvacity ($9.50), with Firestone ($12) a 11/4 lengths away third.Craig Durden, who rode Virvacity, said he did not think the last jump made the difference. "It didn't help (but) I think he (the winner) still had plenty of petrol in the tank," Durden said.Virvacity and Firestone are both trained by Darren Weir, who needed success in the Galleywood to complete the set for the trainers' prize of a Mercedes Benz at the carnival.Weir, who celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, had had four wins in the first two days but they have not included any of the features. The remaining features are today's Grand Annual Steeplechase and the Warrnambool Cup and his only chance is Offenbach, the third emergency in the cup.Robbie Laing, who has three wins, is still a chance for the car with runners in both the Grand Annual and cup. Darwin bookmaking firm Sportingbet yesterday was offering $2.70 about the trainers' bonus being won. Weir came close last year, only to have the favourite in the last race on the third day scratched by the stewards at the start.Meanwhile, McLean, who dedicated his Brierly win to his late father Geoff, who lost his battle with cancer two months ago, has the chance to make it the biggest week of his five-year riding career with Stamus Pro Honneur, coming off a good run in the Great Eastern at Oakbank, in the Grand Annual.In another good news jockey story, Jamie Mott, 19, who had quit his apprenticeship 12 months ago because of increasing weight, confirmed his comeback to riding with a dashing win on Judusk in the Wangoom Handicap.
© 2007 The Age
